MY "MEN'S
FIGURE SKATING HALL OF FAME"

Jackson Haines
(1840–1875) was an American ballet dancer and figure skater who is
regarded as the father of modern figure skating.

Born in New York City, Haines claimed to be national champion in
1864. However, many such "championships" were held during those
years, and none were sanctioned by a unifying figure skating
organization. (The United States Figure Skating Association was not
established until 1921.)

At this time, figure skating was performed in the "English style",
which was rigid and formal. It was virtually nothing like what is
performed today. Haines' style was a complete contrast to the
English style; he used his ballet background to create graceful
programs, and introduced accompanying music (a new concept at the
time). He also screwed his figure skates directly onto his boots,
which added stability and allowed him to do more athletic leaps and
jumps. The typical practice of the time was to strap the blades onto
the boot.

Haines' style was not well received in the United States. He
therefore went to Europe to display and teach his style, which
became known as the "International style". He lived in Vienna for a
time, where his skating style became very popular.

Haines died of tuberculosis in Gamlakarleby (nowadays in Finnish:
Kokkola, in Swedish: Karleby), Finland in 1875. His style did not
become popular in the United States until many years after his death.

The first American figure skating championships in the
"International Style" were held on March 20, 1914, in New Haven,
Connecticut.

Haines was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame and
the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1976.

Haines was the
inventor of the sit spin, one of the three basic spin types. (The
other two are the upright spin, about as old as the art of ice
skating itself; and the camel spin, invented during the twentieth
century by Cecilia Colledge.)

* Photographer:
William Carrick (31 December 1827 – 11 November 1878) was a
Scottish-Russian artist and photographer. He was born in Edinburgh
on 23 December 1827.
In 1844, the family moved to St Petersburg, where William became a
student at the St Petersburg Academy of Arts, studying architecturev.
By 1853 he had completed his studies there, moving to Rome to
undertake further studies. Although his family's business collapsed
during the Crimean War, in 1856 William Carrick returned to St
Petersburg to become a photographer. However, in the summer of the
following year he departed for Edinburgh to gain more experience of
photography. There he met the photographic technician John MacGregor.
In October, he returned to Russia, taking MacGregor with him in the
aim of establishing a business and career. He opened a studio (or
atelier) at 19 Malaya Morskaya Street, St Petersburg, making
MacGregor his assistant. Carrick quickly made a name for himself
capturing pictures of Russian life and pioneering Russian
ethnographic photography, obtaining the patronage of Grand Duke
Konstantine Nicholaievich of Russia, who presented him with a
diamond ring in 1862. In 1865, Count Mihaly Zichy hired Carrick to
take pictures of his watercolours, in order to resell them as prints.
Carrick did similar business with other artists, Ivan Kramskoi,
Viktor Vasnetsov, and Nikolai Ge.
Carrick died of pneumonia, at St Petersburg, on 11 November 1878.

"A great sportsman,
a great hero of the rink"

(Cecilia Colledge)

Freddie Tomlins

Great Britain GBR 1919-1943

Frederick
William Edwin "Freddie" Tomlins (born 5 August 1919 in Lambeth,
Greater London; died 20 June 1943 over the English Channel) was a
British figure skater.

He was the 1939
World silver medalist and European silver medalist. He competed at
the 1936 Winter Olympics and placed 10th.

He served in the
Royal Air Force in World War II. He was killed in battle against a
Nazi submarine over the English Channel.

From "Freddie Tomlins, His life on Skates" by Peggy Tomlins, his
sister:

At the entrance of Streatham Ice Rink there is a large framed
photograph. The inscription appeals by its eloquent brevity: "A
tribute to Freddie Tomlins from Benny Lee, one of the world's
greatest skaters, who gave his heart to the perfection of his
talents and his life to the service of his country".
These few simple words admirably convey Freddie's character, and no
words of mine could more suitably describe his distinctive qualities.
He gave all to his skating: he made the supreme sacrifice for love
of his country.

1961 World Figure
Skating Championships

U.S. Figure
Skating Team

and Douglas
Ramsay

February 15

Sabena Flight
548 was a Boeing 707 aircraft that crashed en route to Brussels,
Belgium, from New York City on February 15, 1961, killing the entire
United States Figure Skating team on its way to the 1961 World
Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia.
All 18 athletes of the 1961 U.S. figure skating team and 16 family
members, coaches, and officials were among the fatalities. The dead
included 9-time U.S. ladies' champion, turned coach, Maribel
Vinson-Owen and her two daughters, reigning U.S. ladies' champion
Laurie Owen and reigning U.S. pairs champion Maribel Owen. Maribel
Owen's pairs champion partner Dudley Richards and reigning U.S.
men's champion Bradley Lord also died, along with U.S. ice dancing
champions Diane Sherbloom and Larry Pierce. The team also lost U.S.
men's silver medalist Gregory Kelley, U.S. ladies' silver medalist
Stephanie Westerfeld, and U.S. ladies' bronze medalist Rhode Lee
Michelson.
The loss of the U.S. team was considered so catastrophic for the
international sport that the 1961 World Figure Skating Championships
were cancelled.
Because the casualties included many of the top American coaches as
well as the athletes, the crash was a devastating blow to the U.S.
Figure Skating program, which had enjoyed a position of dominance in
the sport in the 1950s. Although Scott Allen won a bronze medal at
the 1964 Winter Olympics – becoming one of the youngest Olympic
medalists in history – the United States would not regain prominence
in the sport until the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France,
where Peggy Fleming won gold in the ladies' event and Tim Wood the
silver in the men's singles event. The crash was also indirectly
responsible for bringing foreign coaches such as Carlo Fassi and
John Nicks to the United States.

Douglas Ramsay (1945 – February 15, 1961) was an American
figure skater who competed in men's singles.
Known as "Dick Button Jr.", he early won the reputation of being a
particularly charismatic free skater and an audience favorite. After
placing 4th at the Junior level at the 1959 United States Figure
Skating Championships, in 1960 he narrowly won the Junior title over
Bruce Heiss (brother of Carol Heiss) and Frank Carroll with a
performance described as "dazzling".
Ramsay was the only skater to perform a triple jump at the 1961
United States Figure Skating Championships, where he finished only
fourth due to a poor performance in compulsory figures. However, due
to the illness of bronze medalist Tim Brown, he was selected to
compete at the 1961 North American Figure Skating Championships and
World Figure Skating Championships as the alternate. At the North
American Championships in Philadelphia, Ramsay again established
himself as "the darling of the audience" and finished fourth in
spite of missing a double axel.
Ramsay was en route to the World Championships in 1961 when his
plane (Sabena Flight 548) crashed near Brussels, Belgium, killing
all on board. He was 16 at the time of his death.

From Italy to USA

Carlo Fassi

Italy
ITA 1929-1997

Carlo Fassi
(20 December 1929 – 20 March 1997) was
born in Milan.
As a competitor, he won the European Championships in 1953 and 1954,
and also won the bronze medal at the World Championships in 1953. He
was the Italian men's champion for 10 years.
Fassi took up coaching after the end of his competitive career. From
1956 to 1961, he coached at the Olympic Stadium in Cortina, Italy,
and for four years served as the trainer for the Italian World Team.
One of his first students was a young German skater, Christa von
Kuczkowski, who became his wife and mother to his three children:
Riccardo, Monika, and Lorenzo.
Following the 1961 plane crash that killed the entire U.S. Figure
Skating team and many of the top American coaches, Fassi moved with
his family to the United States, where he soon became established as
a top international coach. He was based first at the famous
Broadmoor Arena in Colorado Springs, then for a time in Denver,
Colorado before returning to the Broadmoor in the early 1980s, and
finally, following a brief return to Italy, at the Ice Castle rink
in Lake Arrowhead, California.
His students included World and Olympic Champions Peggy Fleming,
Dorothy Hamill, John Curry, Robin Cousins, and Jill Trenary. He also
coached Scott Hamilton and Paul Wylie in the early stages of their
careers. Skaters from all over the world came to train with Fassi,
giving his training camp a strongly cosmopolitan and international
atmosphere.
Besides being an excellent technical coach, Fassi had the reputation
of being a master of political dealings in the figure skating world,
with the ability to bring his students to the attention of the
judges. He was such an icon in the sport that when the comic
character Snoopy adopted an alter ego as a figure skating coach (appearing,
for example, in the 1980 TV special She's a Good Skate, Charlie
Brown), it was clearly modelled upon Fassi.
Fassi died of a heart attack at the 1997 World Figure Skating
Championships in Lausanne, which he was attending as the coach of US
skater Nicole Bobek.
He was inducted into the Coaches Hall of Fame by the Professional
Skaters Association in 2002.

Bowman the Showman

Christopher
Bowman

United States USA 1967-2008

Christopher
Nicol Bowman (March 30, 1967 – January 10, 2008) was an American
figure skater. He was a two-time U.S. national champion and two-time
World medalist. He won the 1983 World Junior Figure Skating
Championships and competed in two Olympic Winter Games, placing 7th
in 1988 and 4th in 1992.

Bowman was born in
Hollywood, California, USA. In his childhood, he appeared in
commercials, and two episodes of the TV series Little House on the
Prairie.
Bowman withdrew from the 1986 U.S. Championships after finishing
second in the short program; he had a separation between his right
tibia and fibula.
He was coached as a skater by Frank Carroll for eighteen years, a
relationship that ended following the 1990 World Championships.
After that, Bowman was coached by Toller Cranston and then John
Nicks. In "Inside Edge" by Christine Brennan, Bowman admitted to
having had a $950 a day cocaine habit during his eligible career,
and that he had checked into the Betty Ford Center before the 1988
Olympic Games. Cranston also later described Bowman's drug problems
in his book "Zero Tollerance".
He was known as "Bowman the Showman" for his crowd-pleasing
performances. "If I had to pick the three most talented skaters of
all time, I would pick Christopher as one," Brian Boitano, the 1988
Olympic champion, told the Chicago Tribune. "He had natural charisma,
natural athleticism, he could turn on a crowd in a matter of seconds
and he always seemed so relaxed about it."
Bowman retired from competitive skating after the 1992 World
Championships, and toured with Ice Capades the following year. He
left the tour when Ice Capades was purchased by Dorothy Hamill in
1993. For some years thereafter, Bowman worked as a skating coach,
first in Massachusetts and then in the Detroit, Michigan area, where
he had lived from 1995 until 2007. He also worked as a skating
commentator. Prior to his death, he had returned to southern
California to make a comeback in acting, with a role as an assistant
coach in Down and Distance.
Bowman was pronounced dead on January 10, 2008 at 12:06 p.m. after
being found in a motel in the North Hills area of Los Angeles. He
was 40 years old. The Los Angeles County Coroner determined that
Bowman died from an accidental drug overdose.
He was divorced from skating coach Annette Bowman Jasinkiewicz with
whom he had a daughter.

The first triple jump

Dick Button

United States USA 1929-

Richard Totten
"Dick" Button (born July 18, 1929) is an American former figure
skater and a well-known long-time skating television analyst. He is
a twice Olympic Champion (1948, 1952) and five-time World Champion
(1948–1952). He is also the only non-European man to have become
European Champion.

Button is credited as having been the first skater to successfully
land the double axel jump in competition in 1948, as well as the
first triple jump of any kind – a triple loop – in 1952. He also
invented the flying camel spin, which was originally known as the
"Button camel".

Kurt Browning,
(born June 18, 1966) is a Canadian figure skater, choreographer and
commentator. He is a four-time World Champion and four-time Canadian
national champion.
On March 25, 1988, at the 1988 World Championships in Budapest,
Hungary, Browning landed the first ratified quadruple jump (a toe
loop) in competition. This accomplishment is listed in the Guinness
Book of Records.

Browning later said,
"I remember that there were a few people landing the jump (in
practice) long before I did, and by watching them I was inspired to
try it myself. After landing it, I certainly expected more skaters
to start doing it in competition. I was surprised in the next few
years when that really did not happen."

Photo: Kurt Browning skated this
routine to the "Casablanca" soundtrack at the 1993 World Figure
Skating Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now Czech
Republic), winning his fourth and final World Championship title.

Six perfect 6.0s

Alexei Yagudin

Russia RUS 1980-

Alexei
Konstantinovich Yagudin (18 March 1980) is a former Russian
figure skater. His major achievements in his six years of eligible
sports career include being the 2002 Olympic Champion, a four-time
World Champion (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002), a three-time European
Champion (1998, 1999, 2002), a two-time Grand Prix Final Champion
(1998-1999, 2001-2002), a World Junior Champion (1996) and a
two-time World Professional Champion (1998, 2002).

At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Yagudin won the men's
event, receiving first-place votes from every judge throughout the
competition. He received four 6.0 scores for his long program.
Yagudin's perfect marks are the most for an Olympic performance
since Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean;s free dance in 1984. and
set a record for a men's skater in the Olympics. Yagudin went on to
win his fourth World title after the Olympics, and earned received
six perfect 6.0s for his short program and another two for his free
skate at the competition. He became the first singles skater to
receive six perfect marks for the short program, including the first
ever perfect mark for required elements. This record cannot be
equaled or broken because the International Skating Union introduced
its new scoring system after the 2003 season.

Photo: short
program (music : "Winter" by Bond) and long program (music: "The Man
in the Iron Mask" by Nick Glennie-Smith) at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake
City. Ticket of the men's short program.

The star from San Jose

Rudy Galindo

United States USA 1969-

Val Joe "Rudy"
Galindo (born September 7, 1969 in San Jose, California) is an
American figure skater who competed in both single skating and pair
skating. As a single skater, he is the 1996 U.S. national champion
and 1987 World Junior Champion. As a pairs skater, he competed with
Kristi Yamaguchi and was the 1988 World Junior Champion and the 1989
and 1990 U.S. National Champion.

Galindo took eight
months off after the 1995 U.S. Championships. However, with the
following year's event in his hometown, presenting a chance to
compete in front of his mother who no longer traveled, he decided to
resume training in September 1995. In January 1996, he won the men's
title at the U.S. Championships at the San Jose Arena, becoming the
oldest male to win this title in 70 years.

Here Rudy Galindo
skated the program of his life in front of his home town audience,
earning two 6.0s for Presentation and upsetting Todd Eldredge for
the National Title. This would be a skate to be remembered for years
to come. The arena was electric, chanting "Rudy, Rudy" as Rudy left
the Kiss N Cry area with his coaches, his sister Laura Galindo and
John Brancato.

He went on to win a
bronze medal at the 1996 World Championships.

Galindo was
inducted into the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame in 2011. He was
elected to the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in December 2012.

Men's Figure...
Dancing

Toller Cranston

John Curry

When skating
becomes art

Toller Shalitoe
Montague Cranston (born April 20, 1949) is a Canadian figure
skater and painter. He is the 1971-1976 Canadian national champion,
the 1974 World bronze medalist, and the 1976 Olympic bronze medalist.
Cranston is credited by many with bringing a new level of artistry
to men's figure skating.

John Anthony
Curry (9 September 1949 – 15 April 1994) was a British figure
skater. He was the 1976 Olympic and World Champion. He was famous
for combining ballet and modern dance influences into his skating
(photo: John Curry with the Olympic Gold Medal he won at Innsbruck
in 1976).

Rink & hospital

Red McCarthy

Irish-Canadian ice
skater Red McCarthy was a star of skate shows of the 1930s. He
claimed the world championship in barrel jumping, with a record
15-barrel jump. It was said of McCarthy that he spent as much time
in the hospital as in the rink.

He was also known
for his garish coustumes, based on a body paint of silver nitrate
and crushed glass. He performed as King Bat, and later, in the Ice
Capades, as The Silver Phantom.

Mr. Toe Loop

Bruce Mapes

United States USA 1901-1961

Bruce Mapes
(August 16, 1901–February 18, 1961) was an American figure skater
from the early 1900s.

In 1913, the jump
now known today as the flip became known by his last name, but it is
not known for certain if he was the inventor.

In 1920, Mapes
invented the toe loop, which is now called a Mapes in artistic
roller skating.

Later he was a
lighting director for NBC in New York and resided in Fair Haven, New
Jersey at the time of his death.

From ice to movies

Michael Kirby

United States
USA 1925-2002

Michael J.R.
Kirby (February 20, 1925 – May 25, 2002 in Laguna Niguel, CA)
was a Canadian figure skater who competed in men's singles. He won
the gold medal at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships in 1942
before turning professional and joining the Ice Follies in 1943.

He also competed in
fours with Therese McCarthy, Virginia Wilson and Donald Gilchrist
and won the silver medal at the 1941 North American Championships.
In the later 1940s, Kirby moved to California and appeared in
several movies with Sonja Henie including The Countess of Monte
Cristo. He later relocated to Chicago and established a chain of
instructional ice skating rinks. As a coach, his pupils included
Ronnie Robertson and Dick Button.

Snoopy on ice

Skippy Baxter

United States
USA 1919-

Lloyd Valdemar
Baxter (1919 – ), better known as Skippy Baxter, is an American
figure skater. He won two medals at the 1940 United States Figure
Skating Championships: a bronze in men's singles and a silver in
pair skating with Hedy Stenuf. Baxter went on to skate
professionally with the Ice Capades.

Baxter
choreographed a segment for the 1969 animated film A Boy Named
Charlie Brown, in which Snoopy skates.

He currently
coaches figure skating in Northern California and was inducted into
the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2003.

Mr. Debonair

Richard Dwyer

United States
USA 1935-

Richard Dwyer
is one of the most popular ice skating show stars in figure skating
history. He was and is the famous "Mr. Debonair." He skated in both
Ice Follies and Ice Capades.
Dwyer enjoyed a successful competitive figure skating career. He won
the United States National Figure Skating Championships in the
Juvenile, Novice, and Junior Men's divisions and also competed in
the national championships as a Senior against the legendary Dick
Button.
In 1993, Dwyer was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of
Fame.

Ice Follies

Eddie & Ray
Shipstad

Figure skating in
shows

Shipstads &
Johnson Ice Follies was a touring ice show featuring elaborate
production numbers, similar in concept to Ice Capades. It was
founded in 1937 by Eddie Shipstad, Roy Shipstad and
Oscar Johnson, who also skated in the show. In later years,
Olympic skaters such as Donald Jackson, Barbara Berezowski, Peggy
Fleming and Janet Lynn were in the cast. Ice Follies also featured
novelty acts such as Frick and Frack and Richard Dwyer, who was
billed as "Mr. Debonair".
Ice Follies was featured in a film, The Ice Follies of 1939, MGM's
answer to the popular Sonja Henie films of the time.
Ice Follies merged with Holiday on Ice in 1979.

Photo: the
founders and Roy Shipstad

Skater & actor

Tab Hunter

United States
USA 1931-

Tab Hunter (born
Arthur Andrew Kelm; July 11, 1931) is an American actor, singer,
former teen idol and author who has starred in over forty major
films.

Before he went on
to matinee idol success under his screen name of Tab Hunter, he was
a competitive figure skater. It is evident from his 2005
autobiography, "Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie
Star", written with Eddie Muller, that Hunter loves skating and will
always be a skater. His involvement in the sport was serious and,
more than that, he thinks like a skater.
After a major success in his film career, for example, he writes, "It
was time to celebrate. That meant ice-skating".
In another part of his book, he describes how his skating background
informed his acting background: "To understand why that night was
special, I need to compare acting to ice-skating. You skate alone.
Drop your shoulder too much on a landing, and you're flat on your
ass. To avoid such embarrassment, a skater has only himself to rely
on. I'd approached acting the same way -- in isolation".